Sterile surgical dressing unit



June 1963 ,w. R. BLAIKIE ETAL 3,095,088

STERILE SURGICAL DRESSING UNIT Filed Sept. 27, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 //1/ III III INVENTORS. lfizzm/v A. 34/41/45 la/yes Mile/1 Y ATTO R N EY June 25, 1963 w. R. BLAlKlE ETAL 3,

STERILE SURGICAL DRESSING UNIT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 27, 1961 INVENTORS; I/Mz/AM A. 62 4005 Jwnss Mmeexn ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,095,088 STERILE SURGICAL DRESSING UNIT William R. Blaikie, Watchung, and James H. Murray, Plainfield, N.J., assiguors to Johnson & Johnson, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Sept. 27, 1961, Ser. No. 141,063 2 Claims. (Cl. 20663.2)

This invention relates to surgical dressing units and more particularly to sealed surgical dressing units which permit improved sterile technique.

It is common practice in hospitals to provide each floor or area with a mobile tray or cart which serves as a source of supply for sterile surgical dressings. These dressing carts are normally stocked with previously sterilized dressings supplied from a central location in the hospital set up for this purpose. The carts are then Wheeled through the hospital to the various points of use. The members of the professional staff draw dressings from the bulk stock on the dressing carts as needed. This procedure has been much criticized as a potential contributor to cross infection Within hospitals. Recently, dressing carts in some hospitals have also been aged sterile surgical wipes, sponges or dressings. This reduces the risk of cross infection somewhat, but complicates the dressing procedure since it is usually necessary to open several packages to obtain the items required. The use of pre-packaged dressings has not greatly improved sterile technique since it is still usual for the surgeon or nurse to obtain a surgical drape for use as a sterile field from the bulk stock on the dressing cart. Therefore, although it is generally recognized that a need has existed for an efiicient means of providing sterile dressings at the point of use in hospitals without increasing risk of spreading infection, the use of dressing carts with bulk bandages, drapes and other surgical items persists.

It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide sterile or sterilizable dressing units which are capable of being transported from point to point in a hospital without seriously increasing the risk of spreading infection.

It is another object of the invention to provide a sealed unitary dressing pack containing everything other than instruments, antiseptic and medicaments required in dressing a wound and which is either pre-sterilized or capable of sterilization without opening prior to use.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a sterile dressing unit which makes possible the dressing of a Wound with improved sterile technique even in a nonsteriie environment.

It is yet another object of the invention to reduce the cost of sterile dressings to hospitals by reducing the floor space, equipment and labor previously required in their preparation and storage.

These and other objects of the invention, which will be apparent from the detailed description below, are achieved by the provision of a surgical dressing unit including a sealed outer wrapper enclosing a folded surgical drape containing at least one surgical article. The unique advantages of dressing units of the invention are provided in large part by folding the surgical drape in such a way as to preserve the sterility of the surgical dressing or other articles in the unit after opening the outer wrapper. The folding of the drape also preserves the sterility of the inner surface of the drape thus providing a sterile field on which surgical instruments or other sterile articles may be deposited during the Wound dressing procedure.

The invention will now be described in greater detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the exterior of a surgical dressing unit of the invention;

stocked with pre-pack- 1 FIG. 2 is a horizontal cross sectional view of the surgical dressing unit of FIG. 1 taken along the line Z2;

FIG. 3 is a perspective View of the surgical dressing unit of FIG. 1 in which the unit has been opened and a folded surgical drape partly withdrawn;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the folded surgical drape of FIG. 3 in which one fold has been opened exposing a surgical article; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the surgical drape of FIGS. 3 and 4 opened further along another fold exposing other surgical articles: this figure having been drawn on a reduced scale.

Referring now to the drawings, the surgical dressing units of the present invention include a sealed outer wrapper 11. The method of closing the wrapper 11 does not form a part of the invention, it being obvious that the outer wrapper of the surgical dressing unit may take any desired form or shape and may be closed in any suitable manner such as by the use of adhesives or by sealing with heat and pressure along as many sides or in as many areas as are required to completely close the unit. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 the wrapper 11 is closed completely by the sealed area 12 at the bottom and sealed area 13 at the top. The outer wrapper of the dressing unit is provided with a suitable opening means which in the illustrated embodiment takes the form of the tear tab 14, a part of the sealed area "13. The package may be opened as illustrated in FIG. 1 by grasping the tear tab 14 and separating the sealed area 13 from the wrapper by tearing along the tear line 15. The wrapper 11 can also be opened by tearing the sealed area 12 from the remainder of the wrapper in a similar manner. Alternatively the wrapper 11 may be opened along either of the edges between the sealed areas 12 and 13 by tearing the wrapper manually, cutting with a suitable implement or by means of a conventional tear string (not shown).

Opening the outer wrapper exposes a folded surgical drape 16 which may then be grasped and removed from the wrapper 11. The surgical drape 16 may be a flexible sheet of any suitable material such as paper, a plastic film, or a textile or nonwoven fabric. The drape 16 is in a sterile condition prior to removal from the outer wrapper 11. The sterility of the outer surface of the drape may be destroyed on removal by contact with the edge of the wrapper 11 at the tear line 15, for example, if it is not sterile, by contact with the hands of the surgeon or nurse, or by placing the folded drape on a nonsterile surface. The important consideration, however, is that the inner areas of the dnape 16 and any articles encompassed thereby remain sterile as long as the drape 16 is folded. The operator may then open the drape 16 along the first fold line 17 as shown in FIG. 4 to expose one or more surgical wipes or similar articles 19. The surgeon or nurse may then remove the wipes 19, the sterility of which has been preserved by the folded drape 16, and use them to clean the Wound or area to be dressed and to apply medication. Any possibility of contaminating the inner surfaces of the drape 16 or its contents by insertion of the fingers between the folds when removing the drape from the wrapper may be eliminated by opening the wrapper 11 along the edge adjacent to fold 17 of the drape. In this way only the closed fold 17 may be touched when removing the drape from the wrapper.

Although not essential to the invention, it is preferred that the drape 16 be composed of a material impermeable or at least repellent to water, soap solutions, alcohol and the like so that an antiseptic solution or any other desired medicament or liquid substance may be poured or sprayed on the wipes -19 resting on the drape 16 Without contacting other articles within the folded portion of the drape. The drape 16 may then be opened further along the second fold line 13 as shown in FIG. 5 to expose one or 3 more surgical articles resting on a sterile field, i.e., the drape 16. In the embodiment illustrated, surgical sponges 21 and a surgical dressing 22 are illustrated. When the drape '16 is opened to its fullest extent in this way it also provides a sterile field which may be used by the surgeon or nurse for the deposit of surgical instruments or other necessary articles. The provision of the sterile field adapts the dressing unit of the invention for use in nonsterile environments, such as would ordinarily be encountered at the bedside or outside of a hospital. The surgical sponges 21 and surgical dressing 22 may then be applied to the wound with a single motion without loss of sterility of the surfaces in contact with the wound.

When the dressing of the wound has been completed the 1 surgical drape, soiled wipes and sponges, any previous dressing or any other soiled disposable items may be conveniently disposed of in the wrapper 11. It is preferred that the drape 16 be of such a size that surgical items such as the wipes 19, sponges 21 within the folds of the drape so as to leave a substantial margin of drape around the article as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. This serves to prevent contamination of the sterile articles through the open edges of the folded drape. Although the first fold and second fold of the drape 16 are at right angles to each other in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the folds could also be made parallel to each other, especially in the case of a drape elongated in the direction perpendicular to the parallel folds.

The advantages of the surgical dressing units of the present invention over the use of dressing carts containing quantities of unpackaged sterile dressings are obvious. In the present invention all of the wipes, dressing-s or other articles used in dressing each wound are obtained from an individual dressing unit complete in itself and capable of being used with excellent sterile technique. The various wipes and dressings are removed from the pack-age and exposed as needed without loss of sterility and with no opportunity whatsoever for the transfer of infection from one area or patient to another in the hospital. In addition, the new dressing units are inexpensive and simple to manufacture, store, and use. The dressing units may be sterilized during manufacture or if the outer 'Wrapper is composed of a material which is permeable to sterilizing gases, the units may be sterilized in the hospital without opening prior to use, thus eliminating the need for elaborate precautions to maintain the sterility of the dressing units during storage. It is obvious that the use of dressing units of this kind can substantially reduce or in many cases completely eliminate the cost and labor involved in the preparation, storage and distribution of sterile dressings according to techniques presently employed.

Dressing units of the present invention may be made up for specific surgical purposes; the type, size and quantity of the surgical articles included within the folded drape being dictated by the demands of the particular surgical procedure. The embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, which contains several surgical and dressing 22 will fit 5 wipes 19, several surgical sponges 21 and a surgical dressing 22, which may be a co ress bandage, for example, is especially adapted for use subsequent to oholecystectomie-s, thyroidectomies and simple breast operations, as well as other types of surgical procedures involving medium drainage.

All of the dressing units of the invention, for whatever purpose they may be designed, include a sealed outer wrapper enclosing a' folded surgical drape containing at least one surgical article and are either pre-sterilized or capable of sterilization prior to use without opening the outer wrapper. The surgical drapeis folded in such a way as to permit the surgeon or nurse tofollow a, step by step dressing procedure permitting excellent sterile technique. More specifically, each surgical article needed in the dressing procedure being folds of the drape so as to be available when needed in the dressing procedure and in such a manner .that' the sterility of the article is preserved until it is used-.'

The invention is obviously susceptible of many modifications within its spirit and accordingly it is to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

We claim: i

1. A sterile su'r'gic al'dressing unit comprising in combination a surgical drape having a plurality of folds therein, a plurality of surgical articles disposed within and completely encompassed by said folds and a sealed outer wrapper enclosing said folded drape, said surgical articles being disposed-in successive folds of said drape in a predetermined sequence paralleling the steps of a surgical dressing procedure, whereby on opening said sealed outer wrapper, removing said folded surgical drape and unfolding the plurality of :folds of said drape successively, surgical articles useful in the surgical dressing procedure are made available successively as needed in said dressing procedure.

2. A sterile surgical dressing unit comprising in combination a surgical drape having a plurality of folds therein, a plurality of surgical articles disposed within and completely encompassed by said folds and a sealed outer wrapper enclosing said folded drape, said surgical articles being disposed in successive folds of said drape in a predetermined sequence paralleling the steps of a surgical dressing procedure, whereby on opening said sealed outer wrapper, removing said folded surgical drape and unfolding the plurality of folds of said drape successively, surgical articles useful in the surgical dressing procedure are made available successively as needed in said dressing procedure, and whereby an internal surfaceof said folded surgical drape is exposed, thereby providing a sterile field for the deposit of surgical instruments and other surgical articles during said dressing procedure.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS carried out is located in the 

1. A STERILE SUGICAL DRESSING UNIT COMPRISING IN COMBINATION A SURGICAL DRAPE HAVING A PLURALITY OF FOLDS THEREIN, A PLURALITY OF SURGICAL ARTICLES DISPOSED WITHIN AND COMPLETELY ENCOMPASSED BY SAID FOLDS AND A SEALED OUTER WRAPPER ENCLOSING SAID FOLDED DRAPE, SAID SURGICAL ARTICLES BEING DISPOSED IN SUCCESSIVE FOLDS OF SAID DRAPE IN A PREDETERMINED SEQUENCE PARALLELING THE STEPS 